Safety device for electric railways.



PATENTED MAY 3, 1904.

G. GIBBS.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

N0 MODEL.

' 1: L T CUT-OUT connucroR Ir 1 1 I A! I I I A;

1 THIRD RAIL 1 I J 5% Q I J j TRACK RAIL J 2 CUT-OUT CON DUCTOR W I I i L 11 l THIRD RAIL I 4 F J l A TRACK RAIL W June/Whom I fin WW 7 No. 759,098. PATENTED MAY 3, 1904.

G. GIBBS. SAFETY DEVICE FOR ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.

APPLICATION FILED D30. 24. 1903.

N0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

EM ERGENCY CUT-OUT CONDUCTOR.

EMERGENGY CUT-OUT CONDUCTOK Patented May 3, 1904,

PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE GIBBS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR ELECTRIC RAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.759,098, dated May 3, 1904.

Application filed December 24, 1903.' Serial No. 186,487. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, GEORGE (faces, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, county of New York, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Devices for Electric Railways, of which the following is a specification.

The best-known systems of electric railway are the trolley systems in which naked overhead wires constitute the working conductors, the third-rail system, in which the said conductors consist of bare rails, and the conduit system, in which a naked wire'is supported inside a conduit located under the surface of the ground. In each of these systems electric current is collected for the moving trains by suitable trolleys or shoes. The working conductor in either of the forms described is usu ally fed at a suitable point or points by feedwires in which are inserted circuit-breakers or fuses to cut oflf the current from the conductor in case of short circuits or excessive currents from any cause. These circuitbreakers are usually operated electromagnetically through the action of trip-coils which release a circuit-breaking arm adapted to make a quick rupture of the circuit when released. In operating railway systems carrying heavy currents, however, the demands of normal operation are such that the circuit:breakers have to be adapted in the first instance to carry heavy currents without causing a rupture of the circuit. When fuses are employed, it has been found that partial grounds, short circuits, and other causes are often sufficient to cause arcs of great intensity without the fuses being blown. These being the conditions of normal operation, serious results are liable to happen in case of the derailment of a train, especially if there should be any serious defect in the equipment, the arcs formed under these circumstances being sometimesso intense as to set fire to the woodwork of the cars and otherwise endanger or alarm the passengers. Moreover, in case of accident, especially on underground roads, where a train comes to a stop-and the passengers may alight from the cars and be subjected to contact with a live third rail near the track, there is serious takes place.

danger unless means are provided for cutting off the power from the third rail.

In another application, filed by me on the 26th day of August, 1903, Serial N 0. 170,776, I have described an invention designed to provide a safety device which will automatically open the feeding-circuits in case of a dis turbance of the working conductor before any arcs that are formed can do appreciable damage. The invention referred to is carried out in one of its embodiments by placing in the auxiliary circuits trip-coils for each circuit-breaker and so arranging the terminals of the auxiliary circuit as to bring the tripcoils intooperation whenever a derailment In another embodiment of the same inventionl provide an auxiliary-circuit breaker in series with each main-circuit breaker in the feed-wire circuit, the arrangement being such in either case that on the passage of a very small current the maincircuit breaker will be tripped independently of the main trip-coil, or the auxiliary-circuit breaker will open the feed-circuit and make the conductor dead. The terminals of the auxiliary circuits comprising part of my previous invention referred to are located in such proximity to the third rail that in case of derailment the contact is likely to be made between the said third rail and one or more of the auxiliary-circuit terminals, whereby the trip-coils are made operative and to break the feed-circuit. The safety devices are normally inactive and only come into play in case of derangement of the working conductor or auxiliary circuit by accident.

' The present invention contemplates a further extension of the capacities of the system constitutingthe invention above described;

and it consists in providingmeans whereby any authorized person upon a train may through design operate the feed-wire-circuit breaker and also whereby other causes besides derailment or any other accident which might make contact between the working conductor and the auxiliary-circuit terminals may accomplish the same result. I

Briefly, then, the present invention is concerned with providing means for cutting off the current in classes of accidents where the working conductor is not interfered with or in an emergency at the will of an authorized person on the train or along the line.

Instead of requiring a making of contact between the third rail and the terminals of an auxiliary circuit the present invention is so arranged that the auxiliary circuit when ruptured by any kind of accident or when a short circuit is formed will cause a circuitbreaker to operate so as to break the main power-circuit for the section of third rail under consideration.

I have illustrated my invention with auxiliary circuits which are normally closed and are energized either by shunts from the main circuit or by separate sources of power. Under these conditions the auxiliary circuits are preferably energized with a comparatively low voltage, so that accidental contact therewith will not cause injury to the person and so that the amount of current flowing in the circuit may be very small and will therefore not cause arcs of any considerable intensity. In the present case also the auxiliary circuit may be operated to hold closed an auxiliary-circuit breaker in series with the main-circuit breaker or an auxiliary trip-coil on the main-circuit breaker. It will be understood also that instead of operating the circuit-breaker directly the tripping-coil or magnet may release an electropneumatic or other device, through which as a direct source of power energy is applied to the circuitbreaker for tripping it. The auxiliary circuit may be located in any convenient position, several such positions being illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Reference is hereby had to the said drawings, in which Figure 1 is a diagram of a system embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a similar diagram of a modified arrangement, and Figs. 3 and 1 illustrate possible auxiliary circuits and supports therefor.

Referring to the drawings, 1 is a rail of an electric-railway track. and 2 is a working conductor in the form of a third rail extending parallel with the track. The said third rail is supplied in the usual way by means of feeders 3 3, running between the said rail and the bus-wires, (shown at 4 and 5.) The conductor 5 is connected through a suitable circuitbreaker 6 to the third rail 2. Along the line thus described, which in itself has no particular features of novelty, I run an emergency cut-out conductor 7, which is made in sections and is connected to the track-rail 1 or ground through a resistance 8 by means of a wire or other conductor 9. The conductor 7 is also connected to the traclcrail 1 or ground through a trip-coil 11, an auxiliary-circuit breaker 10, and a battery 12. The said battery may be a storage battery having moderate capacity, and by means of the current furnished by the said battery the circuit composed of the parts 7, 8, 9, 1, 11, and 10 is kept energized at a low potential.

The circuit-breaker 6 may be of any wellknown construction. In the present instance it consists of a magnet 14:, having an armature 15, which is pivoted to a support 16. On the armature is a catch 17 ,with which a switcharm 18 is adapted to engage. The said switcharm is pivoted at one end, as shown at 19, and is urged outward by a spring 21 and is provided with a handle 22, whereby it may be restored after being tripped. The circuit 3 passes through the magnet 1 1 and to a contact-piece 23 on the support 16. Thence it passes through the arm 18 to the pivot 19 and the third rail 2. The spring 1 tends to lift the armature 15 far enough to release the contact-arm 18; but this is prevented by the action of the coil 11 so long as it is energized by the current from the source 12. As is usual in such cases, the arrangement is such that the magnet 1 1 may carry the ordinary current without tripping the circuit-breaker. Should the circuit including the coil 11 be broken, as by some portion of the car pushing against the conductor? or from any other cause, the coil 11 would be deenergized, and the result would be a tripping of the circuitbreaker 6, whereby the feed-circuit would be opened and the danger of the feed-current causing a destructive arc would be obviated. Should a condition occur in which the resistance 8 is short-circuited, the rush of current due to such short-circuiting would energize the coil 20 of the circuit breaker 1O beyond the normal and cause the tripping of the said circuit-breaker, and consequently the open ing of the circuit which includes the coil 11. hen this happens, the feed-wire circuit is opened in the manner already described.

The foregoing detailed description relates to the parts which appear at the left hand in Fig. 1. The operation of the arrangement shown at the right in the same figure is exactly similar to that above described, except that the rupture of any portion of the auxiliary circuit will trip a supplemental circuitbreaker 10 through the agency of the coil 11 and the spring 13. On the occurrence of a short circuit the auxiliary-circuit breaker 10 will be operated as before, causing a rupture of the auxiliary circuit, the deenergization of the coil 11, and the tripping of the supplemental circuit-breaker 10, as described. In this portion of Fig. 1 the main-circuit breaker is shown at 6 merelyin conventional form.

Referring to Fig. 2, the diagram illustrates a mode of accomplishing the opening of the power-circuit through the rupture of the auxiliary circuit without the use of the auxiliarycircuit breaker 10. The system operates as follows: The emergency-circuit in this case consists of a wire 7, laid ad acent to the track, and a return-wire 50, located at any convenient place. In the normal operation of this closed circuit current passes from the battery 12 into and along the wire 7 in the direction of the arrows and back along the wire 50 to the coil 11 and thence to the battery. In case of a rupture of any part of the described circuit the flow of current through the coil 11 is interrupted and the said coil deenergized, thus permitting the opening of the main-circuit breaker through the agency of the spring 13, as before. Should the circuit become grounded, causing a short-circuiting of the resistance 8, the current from the battery would pass by way of the dotted line 51 to the ground or track-rail and the circuit to the battery would be completed through the wire 9 and the resistance 8, thus cutting out the coil 11 and iiermittingthe spring 13 to operate the main-circuit breaker.

In Figs. 3 and 4 I illustrate certain ways in which the emergency cut-out conductor can be supported. In Fig. 3, for example, the said cut-out conductor 7 is supported upon the box 52, which covers the third rail 2,'the latter being itself supported in any suitable manner. In Fig. & I show the emergency cut-out conductor 8 supported upon an insulator 53, the latter being supported upon a post 54 by the side of the track. It will be understood that there isa series of these posts and supports upon which the conductor 7 is carried along the line. In this figure I have also shown a conducting-arm 55, having an insulating-handle 56, the conducting portion of the device being suitably connected, as by a wire 57, with the axle 58 of the car. In this way connection may be made to ground through the track-rail, and the power-circuit is cut out through the act of an operator upon the train. Similar means may be provided, if desired, whereby an operator along the track in case he observes dangerous conditions may ground the emergency cut-out conductor, and thus prevent accident.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination with an electric-rail way system including a working conductor and feed-wires normally connected therewith, of a closed auxiliary circuit including means for controlling the feed-circuit, and means whereby on the rupture of the said auxiliary circuit the feed-circuit is interrupted.

2. The combination with an electric-railway system including a working conductor and feed-wires normally connected therewith, of a closed auxiliary circuit including means for controlling the feed-circuit, and means whereby the said rupturing means will be brought into operation on a rupture orshort-circuiting of the said auxiliary circuit.

3. The combination with an electric-railway system including a working conductor and feed-wires normally connected therewith, of a closed auxiliary circuit including means for controlling the feed-circuit, and means wherel by the said rupturing means will be brought into operation on a rupture or short-circuiting of the said auxiliary circuit, a portion of the said auxiliary circuit being located in proximity to the moving trains constituting part of the system.

a. The combination with an electric-railway system including a working conductor and feed-wires normally connected therewith, of a closed auxiliary circuit including means for controlling the feed-circuit, and means controlled by an operator upon the train forming part of the railway system whereby the said rupturing means may be brought into operation.

5. The combination with an electric-railway system including a working conductor and feed-wires normally connected therewith, of a closed auxiliary circuit including means for controlling the feed-circuit, and manual means whereby the said rupturing means may be brought into operation. l

6. The combination with an electric-railway system including a normally alive working conductor and the usual circuit-breakers, of a closed auxiliary circuit, and means controlled by the said circuit for causing a rupture of the feed-circuit, a portion of the said auxiliary circuit being in proximity to the working conductor.

7. The combination with an electric-railway system including a working conductor, feedcircuits containing the usual circuit-breakers, and trip coils therefor, of supplementary means for breaking the feed-circuit, and a closed auxiliary circuit containing a trip-coil for operating the said supplementary circuitbreakers, a portion of the said auxiliary'circuit being in proximity to the working conductor.

8. The combination with an electric-railway system including a working conductor, the usual circuit-breakers, and trip-coils therefor, of a closed auxiliary circuit containing a coil serving to hold the trip devices for the circuit-breakers in restraint, and means whereby the said coil may be deenergized.

9. The combination with an electric-railway system including a working conductor, feedwires, circuit-breakers, and main tripcoils for the said circuit-breakers, of a closed auxiliary circuit including a supplementary trip-coil and a resistance, and means whereby on the rupture or short-circuiting of the said auxiliary circuit the circuit-breaker may be operated.

10. The combination with an electric-railway system having a sectional working conductor and a circuit-breaker normally connected with each section during the operation of the system, of a closed auxiliary circuit, a portion of which is in operative relation to each section, and means whereby the circuitbreaker may be operated by a rupture or short-circuiting of the said auxiliary circuit.

11. The combination with an electric-rail- Way system including a Working conductor and feed-Wires normally connected therewith, of a closed low-voltage auxiliary circuit containing a resistance, and means whereby on a short-circuiting of the said resistance, the feed-wire circuit for any given section may be opened.

12. The combination with an electric-railway system including a working conductor and feed-Wires normally connected therewith, of a closed l0\ -voltage auxiliary circuit con- 

